{Exclusive} Hanya Yanagihara Brings “A Little Life” To The Rights Market
1〉 Yanagihara’s vividly wrought novel is captivating and devastating in equal measure.
A LITTLE LIFE follows the lives of four college classmates as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. An ode to the families we make for ourselves, Hanya Yanagihara’s sophomore novel examines life’s darker dramas -addiction, cutting, abuse- and its solaces -friendship, success, love- without holding anything back. Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times and The Washington Post, A Little Life is the winner of the Kirkus Prize as well as a National Book Award and Man Booker Prize finalist.
The story revolves around Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, Brooklyn-born painter; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and the brilliant, enigmatic Jude St. Francis, a lawyer and mathematician. As their relationships deepen and darken over the decades, the narrative begins to focus in on Jude, whose mind and body are scarred by unspeakable childhood trauma. Without mention of political or cultural events that would tie the narrative to a particular time, the result is a timeless and gripping story of devotion, suffering, and the difficulties of recovery that is not easily forgotten.
The People In The Trees, Yanagihara’s debut novel, also received rave reviews and landed on several year-end best lists. The book is based on the real-life case of virologist Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, who was revered in the scientific community until he was accused of child molestation by several men that, when they were boys, Gajdusek had brought home from research trips to live with him.
Yanagihara is repped by Anna Stein at ICM Partners. Geoffrey Sanford of RWSG Literary Agency is handling TV and film rights.
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Katia Juanita | Staff Writer